Statement by Joelle Casteix of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (949-322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com)

Singer Jill Scott should be ashamed of herself for rubbing salt into the wounds of tens of thousands of victims of sexual assault by publicly defending Bill Cosb y despite at least 20 allegations of rape and child sexual abuse.

Want to know why many crime victims stay silent? Because of callous, ignorant people like Jill Scott.

We have a simple choice: We can say and do things that help victims and expose predators. Or we can say and do things that help predators and intimidate victims. Scott is irresponsibly choosing the latter.

We hope caring people will stop buying Scott's music and we hope that Scott will publicly apologize for her hurtful remarks.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We were founded in 1988 and have more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)